Red Storm shoots up rankings to No. 15

St. John's basketball is back on the national radar in a big way now. After the Red Storm cracked the Top 25 last week, its 81-68 win at Villanova on Saturday behind Dwight Hardy's 34-point performance really grabbed the attention of any remaining doubters.

The Red Storm (19-9, 11-5 Big East) was voted No. 15 in both polls, zooming 10 spots up the ladder in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll and leapfrogging eight spots in The Associated Press writers' poll. Big Ten leader Ohio State (27-2) regained the top spot in both polls, a scant four points ahead of Big 12 leader Kansas (27-2) in the coaches' poll and by a more comfortable margin in the writers' poll.

As another measure of respect, the Red Storm now is listed as a No. 4 seed in the West Region by ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi.

Any combination of St. John's wins and Syracuse losses totaling two this week will give the Red Storm a double bye in next week's conference tournament, putting St. John's in the quarterfinals. Syracuse, however, is likely to win its only remaining game at home against lowly DePaul to finish 12-6, which means St. John's (11-5) would need wins at Seton Hall Thursday and home against South Florida Saturday to be assured of the double bye.

In the event of a three-way tie for third with Syracuse and Louisville at 12-6, St. John's would be the fifth seed and get a single bye by virtue of an 0-1 record against each school. But should St. John's go on to win the Big East Tournament on its Madison Square Garden home court, it likely would climb into the Top 10 and earn a No. 2 NCAA seed.